Proclamation of “Project Period Month” – December 2016

On November 22, 2016 the Pima County Board of Supervisors declared December 2016 as “Project Period Month”. Photos below are of the board meeting, where attendees donated $250 cash for this project at the YWCA of Southern Arizona. This project is aimed to assist homeless women with feminine hygiene products, with a goal of collection of 500 boxes of products and $1000. Donations can sent to the YWCA, and dropped off at Walmart-East, Tucson Jewish Community Center, and Pima County, plus online websites (listed below).

Pima County Board of Supervisors, with YWCA of Southern Arizona staff receiving proclamation of “Project Period Month”

“Tampons and sanitary pads are not a luxury. Without proper supplies, women miss work. Girls miss school. Life for homeless women becomes even harder and less dignified. Access to menstruation-related products is both a health issue and an economic issue. It is in everybody’s best interest that women and girls have what they need to manage their menstrual cycle. But these products are expensive. The average lifetime cost of menstruation-related supplies is nearly $20,000 per woman. The cost is not covered by insurance. You can’t use SNAP (food stamps) to pay for them. In fact, unlike food and other “necessary” items, these products are subject to sales tax. There is a clear need to change public policy to ensure that all women and girls have access to the supplies they need to live dignified, productive lives. In the meantime, there are thousands of women and girls in our community who need our help.”

Carolyn Sugiyama Classen, a life long Democrat, was born & raised in the State of Hawaii, was a Legislative Aide for U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye on Capitol Hill, and practiced law for a while. In Tucson she worked as a tribal staff attorney for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and later was the Interim Executive Director of the now defunct Domestic Violence Commission. In 2008 she became a “My Tucson” guest columnist for the Tucson Citizen newspaper, then continued blogging for Tucsoncitizen.com for over four and a half years. Her blogsite was entitled “Carolyn’s Community” about community events and some political news, until Gannett Publishing shut down the site on January 31, 2014. She started with Blog for Arizona on Feb. 11, 2014.
Part time she has been sitting as a Hearing Officer in Pima County Consolidated Justice Courts Small Claims Division since April, 2005. She is married to University of Arizona Distinguished Professor Albrecht Classen, a native of Germany. They have one son, who lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and daughter.
She is also the Editor of the Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition website, www.southernazjapan.org (since Jan. 2013).